NEW REPORT: U.S. DEMAND FUELING ILLEGAL CAPTURE AND TRADE OF CERTAIN ENDANGERED MEXICAN PARROTS

I'm guest-blogging on one of my favorite topics, birds. Here's more pressure on the birds in Mexico!
U.S. consumer demand for certain imperiled Mexican parrot species could be a major factor in their extinction if current trends continue, according to a new report titled The Illegal Parrot Trade in Mexico: A Comprehensive Assessment released today by Defenders of Wildlife. Of the top 10 Mexican parrot species that are smuggled into the United States, five are endangered, two are threatened and one is under special protection in Mexico.
"Clearly this is not a sustainable market. Smuggling of certain endangered parrots, such as the yellow headed parrot and the yellow naped parrot, into the United States is increasing, and this demand is pushing already depleted parrot populations in Mexico to the brink of extinction," says Juan Carlos Cantu Guzman, manager of the Mexico program at Defenders of Wildlife and lead author of the report. "Birds are being taken from the wild, sometimes plucked right out of the nest, and dying at alarming rates for sale in the pet trade. Next to habitat loss, parrot trapping posses the greatest threat to the birds' survival in Mexico."
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